Larisa Kozovaya15:19, 26.02.25

The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Europe of unwillingness to resolve the “conflict” in Ukraine.

The Russian Federation intends to seize the entire territory of the Zaporizhia, Kherson, Donetsk and Luhansk regions, since it considers them “its own.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Russian army will not stop at the current contact line. In particular, he made several statements today regarding the full-scale war that Russia unleashed against Ukraine in February 2024.

As Russian media write, according to Lavrov, the Russian Federation is not considering any options at all for deploying European peacekeepers on Ukrainian territory, and “no one asked” the Kremlin about this.

Also, the occupiers do not intend to stop military actions along the existing line of contact. Lavrov justified this statement by the “constitution” of the Russian Federation, and the presence of certain residents of Ukraine who are allegedly prohibited from “preserving the traditions of their ancestors.”

“Some say: “Well, okay, let’s leave the line of contact – this is Russian, and this is Ukrainian.” Firstly, this will not happen – we have a Constitution based on the expression of the will of the people. Secondly, what remains of Ukraine should also be freed from “racist laws.” There are also people who are more comfortable even speaking Russian and who want to preserve the traditions of their ancestors,” the minister said.

Lavrov clarified that the offer made by Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin regarding minerals to foreign investors in the context of their extraction concerns the entire territory that Russia considers its own.

“When the president or another representative of the Russian leadership invites foreign investors to participate in projects on Russian territory, he means, of course, the entire territory of the Russian Federation in accordance with its Constitution,” Lavrov noted.

At the same time, he claims that Europe is trying to “openly undermine” the settlement of the situation in Ukraine, and Moscow will not agree to agreements that provide for continued military assistance to Ukraine.

“Europe is immediately trying to undermine this trend, announcing new large packages of military aid to Kyiv. It is inciting it to continue military actions, directly stating, as I think the Prime Minister of Denmark did, that in this situation peace is worse than war for Ukraine. Therefore, Europe’s role in inflating crises and Europe’s reputation in this field, which it has earned over many centuries of human development, remain in the same condition,” the Russian diplomat said.

Lavrov spoke about negotiations with Ukraine and Europe

He also spoke about Europe allegedly demonstrating an “either-or” mentality.

“The Europeans tried to put forward demands of this kind, that any relaxation in the sanctions regime should presuppose throwing Russia out of the Syrian Arab Republic. This is the same mentality that has distinguished Europe recently – “either with us or against us.” This was the case with preparing the ground to tear Ukraine away from Russia, this was the case in many other situations,” Lavrov said.

He notes that it is not the Russian Federation that is to blame for the problems, but rather that the supposedly European mentality “has a detrimental effect on any process.”

Let us recall that in 2022, Russian leader Vladimir Putin signed constitutional laws on the incorporation of four partially occupied Ukrainian regions into the Russian Federation. Based on these laws, the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, as well as the Luhansk and Donetsk “people’s republics” (LPR and DPR) were included in the Constitution of the Russian Federation as subjects.

(c)UNIAN 2025